NYS and NYC M/WBE Certified Contractor
When asbestos is properly identified, removed, and cleared, your renovation moves forward. Your sale doesn’t stall. Your family isn’t breathing something they shouldn’t be. That’s what this is really about not just removing a material, but removing the uncertainty that comes with it.
A lot of Somers homes were built in layers. A lake cottage in Shenorock might have original 1930s framing, 1960s floor tile, and 1970s ceiling texture all in the same room. Each renovation era added its own materials, and some of those materials contain asbestos. When you know exactly what you’re dealing with and it’s been handled correctly you can move forward with your project without second-guessing every step.
Heritage Hills is another story entirely. With roughly 2,600 units built mostly between 1972 and the early 1980s, it’s one of the largest concentrations of that construction era in all of northern Westchester. Vinyl floor tiles, pipe insulation, acoustic ceiling spray these were standard in that period. If you’re renovating a unit there, or buying one and planning updates, a proper inspection before work starts isn’t overcautious. It’s just the right call.
We hold a valid NYS Department of Labor Asbestos Handling License the legal requirement for any abatement contractor working in New York State, including Westchester County. Our license is publicly verifiable on the NYS DOL contractor listing. Every person we send to a Somers job site holds their own individual NYS DOL certification, not just the company. That’s not standard across the board, and it matters.
We’re also NYS M/WBE certified through the Office of General Services a formal state designation that requires documented review, not just a checkbox. We’ve completed more than 5,000 abatement projects across the region, including work tied to Westchester County properties and the Somers Central School District through BOCES contracts.
When you call us for a project in Somers whether it’s a lake community cottage off Route 116, a Heritage Hills unit on Route 202, or something else entirely you’re getting a team that knows northern Westchester, knows the regulations that apply here, and has done this work before.
It starts with a free on-site inspection. One of our licensed inspectors comes to your property, assesses the materials present, and tells you plainly what’s there, what needs attention, and what doesn’t. There’s no charge for that visit, and no obligation attached to it. For a lot of Somers homeowners especially those dealing with pre-1980 construction they didn’t build themselves that first conversation is the most valuable part.
If asbestos-containing materials are confirmed, we scope the project, pull the necessary permits, and set up proper containment before any removal begins. Under NYS Industrial Code Rule 56, a survey is required before any renovation or demolition of a building whose construction started before 1974 and under OSHA guidelines, all materials in pre-1980 buildings are presumed to contain asbestos unless tested. We handle the regulatory side so you’re not navigating that on your own.
Once removal is complete, we don’t just pack up and leave. Air clearance testing is conducted to confirm fiber counts are within safe thresholds, and we provide formal clearance documentation as a standard deliverable not an add-on. That paperwork matters for your renovation contractor, your insurer, and anyone involved in a real estate transaction. If you’re selling a home in Somers, having that documentation in hand before your listing goes live is a real advantage in a market where buyers and their agents ask questions.
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Asbestos doesn’t show up in just one place. In the older homes that make up a large portion of Somers’s housing stock from the lake communities along the Croton Watershed to the postwar colonials spread across Baldwin Place and Granite Springs it can appear in floor tiles, pipe insulation, ceiling texture, roofing materials, joint compound, siding, and more. We handle all of it with a single licensed crew, a single containment setup, and a single disposal manifest. You don’t need to coordinate multiple contractors for different material types.
Asbestos tile removal is one of the most common requests we get from Somers homeowners. The 9×9 vinyl floor tiles found in kitchens, bathrooms, and basements of homes built between the 1950s and late 1970s are a well-known source of asbestos and they’re everywhere in this town. Popcorn ceiling removal is another frequent one, especially in Heritage Hills units and postwar homes where acoustic ceiling spray was applied during construction. Both require proper containment, licensed removal, and air clearance before any new flooring or ceiling work goes in.
We also work directly with insurance carriers when asbestos is discovered during a water damage event which happens more often in Somers than people expect. Older homes near the reservoirs and lake communities deal with water intrusion, pipe failures, and freeze events regularly. When that disturbs asbestos-containing pipe wrap or floor tile in a pre-1980 home, it becomes an abatement situation fast. We handle the billing coordination directly so you’re not stuck in the middle of a claim while also managing a remediation project.
It’s a reasonable question, and the honest answer is: possibly, yes. Heritage Hills was built mostly between 1972 and the early 1980s, which falls squarely within the period when asbestos-containing materials were standard in residential construction. Vinyl floor tiles, pipe insulation, acoustic ceiling spray, and drywall joint compound were all commonly used during that era and all have been found to contain asbestos in units from that construction period.
That said, “possibly” is not a definitive answer, and it shouldn’t be treated as one. The only way to know for certain is to have a licensed inspector test the specific materials in your unit. Under OSHA guidelines, all materials in buildings constructed before 1980 are presumed to contain asbestos unless laboratory testing confirms otherwise. If you’re planning any renovation flooring, ceilings, plumbing, anything that disturbs original materials getting that inspection done before work starts is the right move. It’s also a requirement under NYS Industrial Code Rule 56 for buildings where construction commenced before 1974.
The range is wide because the scope varies significantly depending on what’s present and how much of it there is. A straightforward asbestos tile removal in a single room might run in the range of $1,500 to $3,500. A more involved project pipe insulation throughout a basement, combined with ceiling texture in multiple rooms can run $8,000 to $20,000 or more depending on square footage and material type.
What drives cost in a Somers home specifically is often the layered nature of the construction. A lake cottage in Lincolndale that’s been renovated across multiple decades may have asbestos-containing materials from several different eras present simultaneously, which adds inspection time, containment complexity, and disposal volume. Heritage Hills units tend to be more contained in scope but can still involve multiple material types in a single unit. The free inspection we offer is genuinely useful here it gives you a real picture of what you’re dealing with before you commit to anything, and the estimate that follows is based on actual conditions in your home, not a ballpark.
Yes, and it’s worth understanding exactly what the law says. Under NYS Industrial Code Rule 56, an asbestos survey is required before any demolition, remodeling, renovation, or repair of a building whose construction commenced before 1974. That survey must be completed by a licensed asbestos contractor using certified inspectors before work begins, not during or after.
On top of that, OSHA guidelines presume that all materials in buildings constructed before 1980 contain asbestos unless laboratory testing proves otherwise. So if your Somers home was built before 1980 and you’re planning any work that disturbs original materials flooring, walls, ceilings, pipe systems you’re operating in a regulatory environment that requires you to address this before your renovation contractor picks up a tool. This applies whether you’re in a Heritage Hills unit, a postwar colonial in Baldwin Place, or a converted lake cottage in Shenorock. The rule doesn’t make exceptions based on how minor the project seems.
This comes up more often in Somers than most homeowners expect, and it’s one of the more stressful situations we deal with. When a pipe fails in a pre-1980 home especially one with steam heat or hot water heating systems, which are common in older Somers construction it can disturb asbestos-containing pipe insulation directly. Basement flooding in a lake community home can do the same thing to original floor tiles. At that point, you’re not just dealing with a water damage claim anymore.
The good news is that this is manageable if it’s handled quickly and correctly. We work directly with insurance carriers and handle billing on your behalf, so you’re not acting as the go-between while also trying to manage a remediation project. The process is the same as any other abatement job containment, licensed removal, disposal with a complete waste manifest, and air clearance documentation at the end but the timeline is compressed and we treat it accordingly. If you’re in this situation right now, the first call is the most important one.
The NYS Department of Labor maintains a public listing of licensed asbestos abatement contractors, searchable by name and zip code. That’s the most direct way to verify a contractor’s standing before you hire anyone. In New York State, the NYS DOL Asbestos Handling License is the foundational legal requirement and it applies to all abatement work in Westchester County, including Somers. There is no separate county-level license required in Westchester the way there is in New York City, but the state license is non-negotiable.
Beyond the company license, it’s worth asking whether the individual workers on the crew hold their own NYS DOL certifications. New York State requires individual asbestos handler and supervisor certifications for every person who physically handles asbestos-containing materials on a job not just the company. Some contractors maintain the company license but use workers who don’t hold individual certifications. Every crew member we send to a Somers job site holds a current individual certification. That’s the standard you should expect from any contractor you hire.
Done correctly and documented properly, it tends to help rather than hurt. Somers’s real estate market is driven significantly by the Somers Central School District families move here for the schools, which means transaction volume is steady and buyers are typically informed and well-represented. In that environment, an asbestos disclosure that surfaces during a buyer’s inspection can slow a deal, trigger a price negotiation, or in some cases cause a buyer to walk. Sellers who have already addressed the issue and who can hand over formal clearance documentation remove that friction entirely.
The clearance documentation we provide at the end of every project is exactly what buyers’ agents, lenders, and title companies are looking for when a pre-1980 home is involved in a transaction. It confirms the work was done by a licensed contractor, that air testing was completed, and that the property cleared the required thresholds. For a Somers homeowner preparing to list a lake community cottage, a Heritage Hills unit, or a postwar colonial, that paperwork is a tangible asset and the cost of getting it done professionally is modest relative to what it protects.
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